Improvement in horse-power equalizers



O. WOODWORTH. HORSE-POWER EQUALIZER.

No.17'2,Z37.

Patented Jan. 11,1876.

INIENTOR MMMW ATTORNEYS NVFETERS. PHDTO-LITHOGRAPHER WASHINGYON D C UNITED STATE PATENT FFIGE CBVILLE WOODWORTHQOF ROSEMONT, MINNESOTA.

iMPROVEMEN T lN HORSE-POWER EQUALIZERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 172,237, dated January 11, 1876; application filed November 27, [875.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ORVILLE Woonwonrn, of Rosemont, in the county of Dakota and State of Minnesota, have invented a new and valuable Improvement in Horse-PowerEqualizers; and I do hereby declare that the followmg is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, retof the same.

This invention has relation to improvements in horse-powers; and it consists in the employment of pulleys arranged on the upper face of each sweep, and in the same horizontal plane, in connection with whiftletree-pulleys, and an endless chain or rop'e passing around said pulleys, whereby the slack of one horse is taken up by the others, and, atthe same time, all friction of the endless chain on the straps in which the pulleys are journaled is prevented, as will be hereinafter more fully explained.

In the annexed drawings, the letter A designates the sweeps of an ordinary horse-power, in connection with which I propose to illustrate my invention. It is well kn'ownto those skilled in the art that it requires great care and constant watchfulness on the part of the operator to keep sluggish animals up to the work, so that the more willing and active members of the team shall not be compelled to bear an undue proportion of the labor and strain required to work the power and run the machine.

' The object of-my invention is to divide the draft equally among the draftanimals, whatever be their relative sluggishness or activity.

Sweeps A, above alluded to, are provided near their outer ends with pulley-wheels a a at, having their hearings in or on the said sweeps, and held against displacement, in the latter case, by means of straps b, in-whieh the journals of the said pulleys have their bearings. Pulleys a a are nearer to each other.-

than the pulley ctopulley a ,'as shown in Fig.

1. B represents a continuous rope or chain, of suitable flexibility, which makes the complete circuit of sweeps A. This rope, commencing at any given point, will first pass over pulley a, thence extending outward to pulley it, around which it will also pass. It thence extends around a pulley, C, to which the whiffletree-hook dis attached by means of a bail, e, and then, returning, will be passed over pulley c on the end of sweep A. From this point it will be passed around pulley a of the next sweep, over and around pulley a outward to a second pulley, G, backward over and around pulley c and so on, until the complete circuit is made, when the two ends of the rope will be rigidly spliced or linked together, thus forming acontinuous rope or chain. Hook d is designed to receive a loop, f, on a single or double itree, E consequently, when two or more draft-animals are used, the rope or chain B, being at no point rig idly secured to the sweeps, any excess of power exerted by one or more of the draft-animals will be transferred, through the medium of pulleys a a1 a G, to the more sluggish and inactive animals of the team, thus causing the labor and toil of operating the power to be evenly distributed among all the animals of the team, the effect of which is, that with the same motive power the same effects may be produced Without entailing upon the more willing animals composing the team any more labor than should be legit mately their share or proportion.

During the operation of the power the end-- less rope or chain D willbe constantly changing in relation to pulleys a, a, a, and U, and consequently it will wear evenly throughout its whole extent, no one portion of thesaid rope orchaiu being more worn than the other.

The consequence of this is, that the equalizing-rope will be made to last the greatest possible length of time, and that the said rope, when it parts at any point, will be equally worn throughout its whole extent, and not at a single point only,the rest remaining unworn and intact.

I am aware that an endless chaiu passing around four pulleys arranged above and be low each sweep of a horse-power, so that the slack of one horse is taken up by the others,

as shown in Letters Patent granted to L. H.

Bratt, dated January 7, 1873, is not new, and

I therefore lay no claim to such invention.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

chain on the straps in which the pulleys are journaled is prevented, substantially as described. I

In testimony that I claim the above I hax e hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two Witnesses.

ORVILLE WQODWORTH:

Witnesses:

C. D. WILLIAMS, WM. H. VAN KLEEOK. 

